An 8-element fast-neutron double-scatter directional detector

摘要

We have constructed a fast-neutron double-scatter spectrometer that efficiently measures the neutron spectrum and direction of a spontaneous fission source. The device consists of two planes of organic scintillators, each having an area of 125 cm~2, efficiently coupled to photomultipliers. The four scintillators in the front plane are 2 cm thick, giving almost 25% probability of detecting an incident fission-spectrum neutron at 2 MeV by proton recoil and subsequent ionization. The back plane contains four 5-cm-thick scintillators which give a 40% probability of detecting a scattered fast neutron. A recordable double-scatter event occurs when a neutron is detected in both a front plane detector and a back plane detector within an interval of 500 nanoseconds. Each double-scatter event is analyzed to determine the energy deposited in the front plane, the time of flight between detectors, and the energy deposited in the back plane. The scattering angle of each incident neutron is calculated from the ratio of the energy deposited in the first detector to the kinetic energy of the scattered neutron.